How to start a real estate website: Step-by-step guide

The housing industry is an ever-evolving field that offers a huge range of opportunities for entrepreneurs, agents and everyday people.

If you’re looking to establish a presence in the real estate market, whether to share property listings, market insights or industry expertise, starting a real estate website could be a good place to start.

In this guide, we’ll provide a step-by-step guide to help get you started.

What is a real estate website?

A real estate website is an online space where businesses or individuals can find property information.

The most popular real estate websites typically focus on helping people to buy, rent or sell. But there can be much more to it than that.

You can find out a little more about some of the different types of real estate websites below.

Types of real estate website

Property listing websites: these are the type of real estate websites that most people will be familiar with. These websites allow real estate professionals to list properties that are either for sale or for rent. Prospective renters and buyers can then use the site to find information about properties they’re interested in.
Real estate agency websites: these sites allow real estate businesses to advertise their services, and the properties on their books. Often, these websites will provide prospective customers with information about the agency, including its history, team members and areas of expertise.
Real estate news websites: these websites are less focused on the transactional side of the housing world and instead focus on the insights behind it. They’ll often produce data and reports that might be of interest to both buyers and sellers.

Real estate website examples

There are a huge number of real estate websites around the world. Here, we’ve highlighted just a few of our favourites.

Step 1: Find your niche

The online real estate landscape is competitive, with a range of major players controlling a large portion of the market. So before you dive into setting up your own website, it’s important that you find a niche.

The market is huge so focusing on a specific niche where you can stand out should be the first step in your strategy. Think about what you can bring to the table, and why people might be keen to hear your thoughts.

More generally, you might consider launching a site focused on:

Residential real estate
Commercial real estate
Luxury property
Rental property
Real estate investing.

Choosing an area to focus on will help you to tailor your plans as you begin developing your website. You can then consider how your site fits into the niche above. For example, your site might focus on one of the following:

Advertising homes or business premises for sale
Advertising homes or business premises for rent
Tips on adding value to the home you own
News and analysis of the housing market
Advertising your services as a developer, agent, designer, or any other relevant profession.

There’s no wrong way to look at building your site, but having a clear idea of what you want to cover will make the whole process a lot easier. It’s important to bear in mind though that a real estate website can cover a huge range of topics.

Step 2: Market research and defining your audience

Whatever niche you choose for your real estate website, understanding who your target audience will be is a vital step in getting started.

Conduct market research to uncover the demographic of reader you’ll be targeting, including their preferences and what their needs are.

Depending on the niche you’ve chosen, this might mean researching potential customers looking to buy or rent, or it could mean building an understanding of what sort of news content people are looking for – make sure to keep your niche front and centre when you start investigating.

The research you complete will help to guide you when it comes to building and designing your new website, but will also inform your content strategy and marketing plans.

Take a look at our page on how to create a business plan to find out more.

Step 3: Choose a memorable domain name

Choosing a domain name might seem like an easy step, but it still requires some thought.

If you already have a business that you’re now building a site for, then you’ll likely want to choose a domain name that reflects your existing brand. If you don’t have a business yet, then you’ll need to start from scratch.

When you do start thinking about your domain name, you should consider incorporating relevant terms, such as ‘real estate’, ‘housing’ or ‘property’ to make it clear that your site is targeting those topics. You may also want to include your location, for example, if you are only planning to serve a local audience.

As much as possible, the domain name you choose should be memorable, easy to say and aligned with your business. You can use a domain registrar, such as GoDaddy, to check the availability of the name you want, and to register it.

You can check out our page on how to choose a domain name to find out more.

Step 4: Set up web hosting and a content management system (CMS)

To make your new real estate website accessible online, you’ll need website hosting and a content management system (CMS). How you approach this will depend on which route you take to build your site.

Our best website hosting page can help if you’re planning to take a more customised route, using a CMS like WordPress. On the other hand, if you’re using a website builder, such as Wix, then hosting will be included.

Which of these routes you take depends on a few factors, including your experience in creating websites. If you’re an expert in building sites, then you’ll likely choose a web hosting provider and then build with a custom CMS. If you’re new to the process then a website builder will probably be the better option.

Best website builders for real estate sites

When you start building your real estate website, you should take a little time to consider what features or functions you’ll need on your site, as well as the sort of content you’ll be publishing.

For example, if you’re creating a website to sell or rent property, you’ll need to be able to display properties with information, contact information and prices. On the other hand, if you’re creating a housing news site, you might want to publish text articles, videos and image-based content.

The website builders in the table below are all-rounders that provide a good range of functionality to help get you started.

Brand	Plan	Cost
Wix	Lite	£9/month
Squarespace	Personal	£12/month
GoDaddy	Basic	£6.99/month

Step 5: Design your website

Whatever form your real estate website takes, making sure that it’s visually appealing and easy to use is essential for attracting and retaining visitors.

Make sure to choose a responsive and clean template that suits your niche and supports the features you want to use on-site. Prioritise the use of high-quality images and photographs, with clear and easy-to-read text and an intuitive layout.

Lastly, make sure your website works well on every sort of device. You don’t want to design primarily for desktop users, only to realise that most of your traffic comes from mobile devices.

If you opt for a website builder, you shouldn’t need to worry about being mobile-friendly, as that is a default for the templates offered by those platforms.

Step 6: Integrate property listings (if needed)

If you’re launching a real estate website to sell or rent properties, then your core website feature will be the property listings on your books.

You should integrate a property listing system or real estate plugin with your website to help automate this process.

These tools allow you to display property details, images, floorplans and contact information for buyers or renters.

Step 7: Create high-quality content

In addition to property listings – or instead of, depending on the site you are launching – you’ll also want to create high-quality content that informs and educates your audience.

You might want to consider the following types of content:

Market insights and trends
Guides to buying and selling property
Neighbourhood profiles
Finance and mortgage advice
Real estate tips

Making sure that your information is engaging and up-to-date will be vital to your website’s performance. You should also consider what form this content takes – it might be that the majority of your content will text-based articles.

However, you might also want to produce video or audio content, if you know that that will be a better match for the content you are producing, and for the audience you are expecting.

Step 8: Optimise for search engines

Search engine optimisation (SEO) is a vital process for ranking your website on search engines like Google.

You should conduct keyword research related to your niche and incorporate this research into your content strategy. This will allow you to build content that you know is relevant to your audience, and being searched for.

You should focus on both on-page and off-page SEO to maximise the performance of your website.

You can check out our guides to SEO in the articles below.

What is Google Search Console? Definition, features & benefits

What is Google Analytics? Definition, features and benefits

What is keyword tracking? Definition & tips on how to do it

What is SEO? An introduction to search engine optimisation

Step 9: Market your real estate website

Building an audience for any website requires effective promotion and marketing – a real estate website is no different.

You should make use of social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn to share your content – whether that be property listings or news article. Broadening the channels you work with will allow you to broaden your audience to engage as many would-be readers or viewers as possible.

You might also consider paid advertising through social media or search engines, as well as email marketing to your customer base.

You can check out guides on marketing below to find out more.

What is email marketing in 2024? Definition, benefits & strategies

Social media marketing in 2024: What is it and how does it work?

What is search engine marketing (SEM)? Definition, types & tips

How to market your website in 2024: Step-by-step guide

Step 10: Monetise your website

You might monetise your site from day one, particularly if you are building your real estate website to display listings for either sale or rent.

If, however, you are building a news or analysis site, then you might wait until you’ve begun generating consistent monthly traffic. This will put you in a better position to understand what sort of revenue you might expect, and will also give you more data to present to partners that you intend to collaborate with.

Either way, as a real estate website, you might want to explore the following options for monetisation:

Listings – you might post listings on your site and then charge either owners or agents to have their properties on your website.
Featured listings – you might offer owners or agents the chance to promote their listings in premium positions on your website.
Housing services – you might offer contact options for would-be customers to get in touch with you about consulting or acting as an agent for them.
Affiliate marketing – you may want to promote housing products or services on your site, earning a commission when people navigate to your partners from your articles.

Which of these routes you take for monetisation will depend, in part, on the site you are building.

Bear in mind that your users should always come first – providing monetisation in a way that damages the on-site experience will, over time, lead to a decline in traffic. It’s important to balance your revenue operations against audience satisfaction to maximise your results.

Step 11: Engage with your audience

Building trust and credibility in the real estate space is vital – buying, selling or renting properties are some of the biggest decisions your audience will make. And so, it’s essential that they trust the information you are providing.

Respond quickly and professionally to inquiries, comments and emails to make sure people recognise your brand. Offer the resources your audience needs to succeed in the space and offer whatever support you can to help.

How to start a real estate website: Final thoughts

A real estate website can take many forms and, depending on how you plan to approach the industry, there is an enormous amount of potential to succeed.

By understanding the niche you are going after, as well as the audience that comes with it, you will be in a good place to create a website that offers everything your customers or readers need.

Focus on producing quality content, with useful information that engages your users. Consider the range of content types you need to focus on and, above all, make sure to listen to feedback from your audience to make sure you’re providing as much of the information they need as you can.

Bryn Glover

Bryn is the founder and editor of WebsiteJumpStart. He has worked in the digital field for over a decade and was editor for Startups.co.uk - the UK's leading small business website - and for NerdWallet UK before launching WebsiteJumpStart to help people and businesses get online with ease.

Website launch checklist: Download our guide

Launching a website is a process of several steps. If you want your website to run smoothly and look good, it’s important to complete those steps in the right way. Our website launch checklist is here to help you with exactly that. Take a look at the sections and

July 24, 2024 No Comments

How to start a hotel booking website: Step-by-step guide

With traditional travel agencies increasingly falling behind more modern ways of planning holidays, having a well-designed hotel or B&B website is now essential for any business looking to attract guests and boost their bookings. A hotel or B&B website is your digital storefront, providing potential guests with a glimpse

February 7, 2024 No Comments

How to start a sports blog: Step-by-step guide

The world of sports offers an enormous number of opportunities for both enthusiasts and entrepreneurs. If you’re passionate about sports and want to share your knowledge, insight or commentary with a wider audience, starting a sports site could be an exciting venture for you. Whether you want to create

February 2, 2024 No Comments

How to start a fitness website: Step-by-step guide

The fitness industry is booming, with people around the world striving for healthier lifestyles. Starting a fitness website could be an excellent way to tap into a market that isn’t going anywhere, while sharing your passion for wellness and health. You can provide valuable information and inspire others on their

September 20, 2023 No Comments

How to start a travel website: Step-by-step guide

Starting a travel website can be an exciting venture that allows you to share your passion for exploration. You can provide fellow travellers with valuable information and might even start turning a profit if you follow the right steps. Whether you’re a seasoned globetrotter or an up-and-coming travel enthusiast, this

September 19, 2023 No Comments

How to create a review website: Step-by-step guide

Online review websites have become a valuable resource for consumers looking for honest and reliable information on the products, services and experiences they’re interested in. Starting your reviews website can be an excellent way to build an online business, allowing you to combine your passion for a specific product or

September 18, 2023 No Comments

Table of Contents